Airlines slash flights, freeze hiring as virus cuts travel

By DAVID KOENIG

Airlines are slashing flights and freezing hiring as they experience a sharp drop in bookings and a rise in cancellations in the face of the spreading coronavirus.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly says the outbreak might be worse for airlines than the terror attacks of 2001. An industry trade group believes it will be more damaging.

Delta Air Lines said Tuesday that travel demand has fallen so badly in the past week that it expects one-third of seats to be empty this month on flights within the United States, which was insulated from virus fallout for a time.

United Airlines expects to lose money in the first quarter for the first time in six years.

Business travelers are grounded as meetings and conferences are canceled. Leisure travelers are scared.

Normally airlines try to lure reluctant travelers by cutting fares, but that won’t work with the COVID-19 outbreak.

“If you are scared of flying, you are probably scared at any price,” said Delta President Glen Hauenstein.

Delta, the world’s biggest airline by revenue, said net bookings declined 25% to 30% in the past two weeks and could get worse. It will cut international flights by 20% to 25% and reduce U.S. flying by 10% to 15%, roughly matching cuts previously announced by United Airlines.

Delta is also cutting spending, putting a freeze on hiring, offering voluntary unpaid leave, delaying voluntary pension contributions and suspending share buybacks.

American Airlines announced it will cut international flying by 10% this summer and reduce U.S. flying by 7.5% in April. It has delayed training of new pilots and flight attendants.

The virus appears to be most dangerous among older people. The Associated Press reported over the weekend that the White House overruled a plan by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that older and physically weak Americans be advised not to fly on commercial airlines because of the new virus, according to a federal official. Instead, the CDC issued more nuanced advice, saying older people and those with health problems should avoid cruise ships, crowded places and “non-essential travel such as long plane trips.”

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said the largest decline has been in tickets within seven days of departure, which he said was entirely due to corporations restricting travel by employees. He predicted that business travel will return, but he didn’t say when.

Airlines have been waiving change fees and touting stepped-up cleaning of airplane cabins to make passengers feel more comfortable about flying.

They have also cut prices, although that has not stemmed the drop in demand. Hopper, a travel-data research firm, said the average domestic airfare fell 14% last week, with fare-sale discounts running more than 50% on some major routes such as New York-Chicago and Los Angeles-Washington.

Delta, United, American and most international carriers have suspended flights to China and reduced flights elsewhere in Asia.

U.S. airline officials say they can manage their way through the outbreak. They say their companies are stronger, more profitable and carrying less debt than in the past. Mergers have left fewer competitors. Lower oil prices will help — American expects to spend $3 billion less on fuel.

The airlines, however, are facing a challenge unlike any they have seen before.

“This current crisis is a test of the ability of our restructured industry to withstand the types of shock that we have never been able to withstand before,” American’s Parker said.